Love Lost
by A Penny's Worth
Summary: As Sirius sits alone at Grimmauld Place he thinks of his school years and the love he thought he had lost forever.


Sirius Black lazily wandered around the bland rooms of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, before finally settling into the big, black-winged armchair in the upstairs study. He stared blankly out the window, boredom swallowing his joy. The only sounds that could be heard were the strangled cries of his mother from her portrait below, and the obscene mutterings of his house-elf. "Where are all my friends when I need them?" he whispered irritably, glancing at the sparse range of photos that were scattered on the desk adjacent to his chair. James, Lily, Remus… their faces all grinned at him from inside their tired, gilded frames. Finally his gaze settled upon one. A girl with raven black hair looked out at him from within the frame, a mischievous glint in her deep blue eyes. Sirius stared at the photo; he could feel his eyelids getting heavy and in an instant his mind was filled with images of the girl. Suddenly everything came into focus again as his mind settled on one memory, the day he had first met the girl with the raven black hair:

September 1968

Sirius glanced around, a bored expression plastered across his face. His long black hair dangled in his eyes and he reached up to cantankerously bat it away. Another year of Hogwarts had begun and although he was somewhat relieved to be free from to confines of Grimmauld Place and his family's conservative beliefs; he had too quickly settled in to the monotony of school. Everything was a bore to him. Even the pranks that he had last year delighted in playing on Severus Snape with the assistance of James Potter no longer thrilled him. Everything was just too easy for him and as he sat outside, the breeze dusting the ground with autumn leaves and giving the lake a speckled blanket effect, he wished for once that he were stupid. Painfully slow. So much so that he would have to work every hour to achieve even the most minuscule results from his spells. Even to the extent that he wouldn't be aware of how dull and repetitive Hogwarts had become. 

The sound of the bell suddenly entered his consciousness. Routinely he glanced around for his bag, his boredom turning to bewilderment when he couldn't see it. Suddenly he became aware of Severus Snape and the wand that was protruding from under his cloak and pointing at Sirius' bag, which was now levitating dangerously close to the surface of the lake. 

"Drop it, Snivellus." Sirius called threateningly, removing his wand from his pocket. 

"It would be my pleasure," Snape replied, allowing the bag to fall. It was only one inch from the water it suddenly stopped and hovered. In another second Snape himself was dangling head first above the lake. Sirius turned around to find his friends James and Remus standing nearby, both with their wands raised, with Peter cowering a few feet behind them. 

"You know Snape," James sneered, "You could really do with a bath. Maybe it could clean up that greasy hair of yours." And before another word could be spoken, James's wand hand flicked and Snape was plummeted head first into the water. Remus had taken this distraction as an opportunity to bring Sirius's bag in from the water, and it now sat perfectly safe on the ground beside him. 

"Thanks guys," Sirius smiled, looking around at his friends. Remus had now withdrawn his wand and it now sat comfortably at his side. James, however, still had it raised and Sirius followed his gaze to find Snape once again suspended a few inches from the surface of the water. 

"What do you think Sirius?" James said, glancing at Sirius, with a playful smirk. "Do you think his hair is clean enough?" Sirius smiled even more broadly then before. _How could I ever even think I was sick of this? _He thought, instinctively removing his wand from his robes in one quick action.

"You know what James," Sirius said, tauntingly slow as he glanced from James, to Snape, and quickly at the crowd that was now forming around them. "I think that a little shampoo might assist the process." Swiftly Snape was covered in shampoo, which made think gurgling noises as it made its way from his feet, down his trousers to his head. "No, no… that just wasn't enough," Sirius scoffed, now completely caught up in the moment. James and Peter (along with most of the surrounding crowd) were now doubled up with laughter, while Remus stood back, struggling to suppress a smile. "Yes, I know just what will do the trick…." Just as his hand went into the flicking motion, he felt his wand fly from it with the shout of "Expellaramus" from a voice nearby. Just as swiftly as his wand had left him, Sirius found Snape standing beside him, dry and immaculately presented. 

"Well Sirius," James said, struggling to get the words out coherently, "At least you did a good job of cleaning up Sniverrly here." With that Sirius could no longer contain his laughter and it broke from within, and soon it had snowballed out of control, to the point where Sirius was clutching his waist, barely able to even breathe. 

"Get to class! All of you. Get out of here. There is nothing to be seen" A girl was angrily pushing her way through the crowd. Finally as the crowd dispersed she managed to reach the five boys who stood at the centre of it. One of which was seething and had a vain throbbing unnaturally in his forehead, and the others whom were biting their lips and shaking from the overwhelming urge to laugh. 

"What is going on here?" The girl demanded, looking around at the group, ultimately allowing her cold gaze to rest on James and Sirius, who now stood side by side. 

"Well, you see, ma'am," Sirius replied, inaudible snorts of laughter escaping from his nose. "Snivelly here was in need of bath. You see his foul stench was starting to disrupt our learning, and well, James?" James was gradually turning a bright shade of purple.

"Yes indeed. Definitely in need of a bath." came the strangled sound of James's voice. 

"So you see, we only did it to assist us in our educational development. And of course, to assist yours Miss?" Sirius said, suddenly aware of how absolutely exquisite the girl in front of him was. Her hair was a deep black, which shone red in the light and her eyes were an unflinching dark blue that seemed to penetrate Sirius's and instantly his sarcastic laughter ceased.

"Miss Allemande," she replied, her steely stare set on him. "Danielle Allemande,"

"Well, Miss Allemande," Sirius cooed as he reached for her hand, "The pleasure is all mine."

"It is good one of us is enjoying ourselves." Danielle stated, the smile that played at the corner of her lips not quite meeting her eyes. "I am quite capable of looking after myself."

"Oh, I have no doubts." Sirius replied, his cocky smirk returning.

"Although, I can assure you that if I ever need a Neanderthal barbarian to assist in my learning, you will be the first person I call." Her smooth, almost flirty tone in no way reflected the meaning of her past statement, so it took Sirius a few moments too long to realize the full impact of what she had said. When reality struck him, he prepared himself to dazzle her with his overpowering wit, but as soon as he glanced up he realized that she was halfway across the field and his friends were once again shaking with laughter.

"Well Sirius," said Remus, "It was a long time coming, but finally with have found somebody quicker then you." 

"She is not quicker then me." Sirius responded, abashed by the suggestion. 

"Right, so that would explain why she got the last word and you stood there looking completely dumbfounded." 

"Hey, don't be too hard on him Remus." _Finally a true friend!_ Sirius thought, glancing happily at James. "I mean it's not his fault that he just got completely whipped by a girl. After all, "the pleasure was all his"."

"You are unbelievable," Sirius muttered stomping away angrily from James, Peter and Remus who were now shrieking with laughter. "And I'm even late to class." he said, suddenly aware of how empty the field now was. "Perfect, this is just perfect." begrudgingly a smile slowly formed at the side of his lips. _Maybe it isn't so bad to have a bit of competition around school?_ Sirius thought, the hilarity of her quips now dawning on him. _She's not bad. Not too bad at all. Besides, it was all worth it just to see Snivellus covered in shampoo dangling above the water._ And with this thought he found himself at the stairs leading to the castle and to his first class. 


End file.
